Maryland men’s soccer forward Paul Bin wasn’t going to play Tuesday.
Bin was nursing an ankle injury that kept him out of coach Sasho Cirovski’s starting lineup against Penn State, and after his Maryland men’s soccer teammates jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first half, it seemed Bin’s services wouldn’t be needed.
But then, the Nittany Lions scored twice — once with two seconds left in the first half, and an equalizer with only six minutes left in regulation, after which Bin began warming up and told forward Vinicius Lansade that he wanted to score the game-winner.
In double overtime, that’s exactly what he did. Bin rocketed home his fourth goal of the season in the 107th minute to give Maryland a relieving 3-2 win over Penn State and earn the Terps their first three-game winning streak of the season.
“I told [Cirovski] beforehand that I felt pretty good going into the game and I thought I could maybe do something for the team,” Bin said. “I’m glad that he gave me the opportunity in the final few minutes and I’m glad I got the goal.”
Coming off a five-goal outburst against Ohio State on Friday, the Terps got off to a hot start in the first half Tuesday. Maryland scored two goals on only three shots in the opening period.
In the 27th minute, an attempted clearance from Penn State ricocheted off a Nittany Lion and fell conveniently to Lansade’s feet just outside the six-yard box. He took one touch and fired a shot to secure the advantage and his first career goal.
Maryland’s next shot came 17 minutes later, when midfielder Amar Sejdic curled a near-post shot past Penn State goalkeeper Josh Levine to go up 2-0 with less than two minutes left in the first half.
Maryland’s offense fizzled for the rest of regulation, however, allowing Penn State (5-8-2, 2-3-2 Big Ten) to climb back into the game. The Nittany Lions scored with only two ticks left on the clock in the first half, squashing the momentum Maryland (7-5-3, 4-3) had built.
Still with a one-goal lead, Cirovski didn’t put Bin into the game. But when midfielder Noah Pilato scored in the 84th, Bin immediately checked in at the restart and played the remainder of the game.
“There was always a thought that he might play later in the game,” Cirovski said. “At 2-0, you didn’t think you needed him. At 2-2, we needed him.”
With fresh legs, Bin’s energy gave the Terps a boost. The Seoul, South Korea, native’s first shot came just before the end of the first overtime, but it was blocked. His next shot, in the second overtime period, pierced through the air until it hit the back of the net.
Bin received a pass from forward Sebastian Elney and created enough separation from his defender to beat Levin near-post for the golden goal.
“Coming off the bench, playing only [24 minutes] and being able to score the game-winner is definitely a surreal experience,” Bin said. “I’m just glad I got on the end of it.”
Bin’s heroics have become customary; he’s scored in three straight appearances to help guide the Terps’ postseason push.
He evened the scoreline before an eventual 2-1 loss to then-No. 4 Indiana, scored the eventual game-winner the very next game against then-No. 3 Denver and after sitting out against the Buckeyes, Bin delivered the winning touch again Tuesday.
“It was amazing,” Lansade said. “He always comes in and does something. We thought he wouldn’t be able to play and last minute he just came in.”
Maryland has now won three consecutive games for the first time this season, gaining steam entering the last contest of the season next weekend. And while the Terps now have seven wins on the season, Cirovski said Tuesday’s was the most satisfying.
“This had a little bit of everything,” Cirovski said. “We had a really good start, we were challenged by a couple of great goals by a very good Penn State team, and we found the resolve and we pushed for the win.”
